Sending The Wrong Messages to Criminals: “They Know They’re Untouchable.”

Highlights

“They Can’t Touch the Criminals. They Know They’re Untouchable.” Washington Post article on Baltimore violence.

Offenders understand that the rules governing them have softened considerably. We are telling criminal offenders that the justice system is backing down and that their chances for apprehension and accountability are greatly diminished.

Some cities where violence is overwhelming wanted police agencies eliminated or defunded. That movement destroyed police morale nationally.

Author

Leonard Adam Sipes, Jr.

Retired federal senior spokesperson. Thirty-five years of directing award-winning public relations for national and state criminal justice agencies. Interviewed multiple times by every national news outlet. Former Senior Specialist for Crime Prevention for the Department of Justice’s clearinghouse. Former Director of Information Services, National Crime Prevention Council. Former Adjunct Associate Professor of Criminology and Public affairs-University of Maryland, University College. Former advisor to presidential and gubernatorial campaigns. Former advisor to the “McGruff-Take a Bite Out of Crime” national media campaign. Certificate of Advanced Study-Johns Hopkins University. Former police officer. Aspiring drummer.

Opinion

Is justice reform sending messages that encourage criminality? If there are no (or greatly diminished) consequences for your acts, does that encourage criminality?

There’s nothing wrong with discussions as to making the justice system fairer or constitutional. There’s nothing wrong with reporters covering incidents where cops did something stupid or wrong. There’s nothing improper about examining minority-law enforcement relations. All of this is proper within any meaningful democracy. 

But calls for police defunding or demands that police stop being proactive or refraining from traffic stops or prosecutors publically proclaiming that “minor” crimes will not be prosecuted or advocates insisting that a man who beats his spouse with a frying pan be released on no bail all send a message. Fines are now off-limits because people can’t afford them? Publically indicting over a million people in policing for the wrongs of a few is morally unjust.

Why has violent crime and fear of crime increased considerably in urban areas? Is it because there’s no accountability or the perception that liability for criminality is greatly reduced?

If there are no arrests and no community cooperation or little accountability, does this embolden the violent?

There are detailed videos on social media telling you that auto thefts for certain makes and models are easy. Vehicle thefts increased for these models. Auto thefts have increased to a 15-year high.

Messages have consequences.

There are groups deemed vulnerable (i.e., the disabled, same-sex individuals, women, and biracial people) that are victimized far more than others. Media outlets need to be cautious when they discuss vulnerability. Messages have consequences.

Music, movies, and social media play to the themes of lawlessness, sexism, and violence. To younger people involved in substance abuse and those coming from horrific and confusing backgrounds of child abuse and neglect, messages that promote violence and sexism are destructive.

The messages we give to the violent (and all criminal offenders) have consequences.

They Know They Are Untouchable-Baltimore

“Since the Freddie Gray situation, even if you call the police and give a description, they can’t touch the criminals,” the business owner said. “They know they’re untouchable. That’s the key.”

“This is a killing field.”

“Don’t give up on Baltimore,” Mayor Catherine E. Pugh told officers gathered for a roll call in the Southern District police station last week. Washington Post

The Decline In Overall Arrests From Statistica

There were over 4.53 million arrests for all offenses in the United States in 2021. This figure is a decrease from 1990 levels when the number of arrests was over 14.1 million.

The current plunge (beginning in 2014) corresponds with protests-riots regarding police use of force. There was a considerable increase (28 percent) in violent crime and serious violent crime in 2015 per the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

“The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) were a series of protests and riots that began in Ferguson, Missouri on August 10, 2014, the day after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by FPD officer Darren Wilson,” Wikipedia.

Ferguson renewed a discussion over police tactics and justice reform resulting in a massive indictment of all cops in America (per national polls) and calls for reform, including defunding. Messages have consequences.

Federal Arrests

The Bureau of Justice Statistics released its report Federal Justice Statistics, 2021. The study found that arrests by federal law enforcement agencies declined 35% from fiscal year (FY) 2020 to FY 2021, reaching the lowest level over the past two decades. Federal arrests mostly declined since 2013 with COVID and immigration policies having an impact.

Juvenile Arrests

Juvenile arrests dropped to their lowest level in 40 years. Juvenile arrests overall fell by 58% between 2010 and 2019. In 2020, youth age 17 and younger accounted for just 7 percent of all arrests for violent crimes, down from 14 percent in 2010. That 10-year decline in youth arrests far exceeds the decline in adult arrests for violent crimes.

Police Initiated Contacts Fall By 9 Million

The portion of U.S. residents age 16 or older who had experienced contact with the police in the preceding 12 months declined from 26 percent in 2011 to 21 percent in 2015, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced. The number of residents who had experienced contact with police dropped by more than 9 million people, from 62.9 million to 53.5 million during the period. From 2011 to 2015, the number of persons who had contact that was police-initiated fell by 8 million.

A 60 Percent Decline in Searches-Arrests

In 2020, the majority (75%) of U.S. residents whose most recent police contact was a street stop experienced no resulting enforcement action. Residents who did experience an enforcement action most often received a warning (16%), while being searched or arrested (5%) or given a ticket (3%) was less common. About 5% of residents were searched or arrested during their street stop in 2020, marking a nearly 60% decline from the 13% searched or arrested in 2018.

The U.S. Correctional Population Declined 22%-A Decrease of 61,000 Offenders

We are at record lows for people under correctional supervision while urban violence increases.

Crimes Solved Have Plummeted To Historic Lows

According to the most recent data published by the FBI, the rates at which police forces are solving crimes have plunged to historic lows. In the case of murders and violent crime, clearance rates have dipped to just 50 percent, a startling decline from the 1980s, when police cleared 70 percent of all homicides.

It’s not just murder. Manslaughter is down to 69 percent clearance from 90 percent forty years ago. Clearances in assault and rape cases have dropped to 47 percent and 30 percent, respectively. Nonviolent property crimes like burglary (which involves illegally entering a property), theft (which involves taking property from another person), and motor vehicle theft are getting solved at a microscopic 14 percent, 15 percent, and 12 percent, respectively. According to “Crime and the Mythology of Police,” a recent article published in the Washington University Law Review by University of Utah law professor Shima Baradaran Baughman, “on a good year, police solve less than a quarter of reported cases.” And we haven’t seen good years lately, The American Prospect.

Proactive Policing Is Necessary

Proactive policing, the only modality with hundreds of methodologically correct and replicated research papers indicating success in lowering crime is being discarded because of the connection between aggressive policing and use of force issues. This issue alone may be the principal reason why violence in cities is rising.

The rise in crime is often attributed to COVID but violence started to increase considerably in 2015 per the Bureau of Justice Statistics, long before the pandemic.

But at the moment, proactive policing is a moot point because many (most?) police officers refuse to engage in the practice because of perceived criticism of “all” in law enforcement, not just the miscreants involved in the questionable or illegal use of force.

A case can be made that proactive policing is crucial to offender accountability.

Messaging And Vulnerability

I interviewed hundreds of criminal offenders throughout my career, many for award-winning radio and television shows and podcasts. Some were formal meetings in correctional facilities. One was when I was in a room with approximately 150 offenders being charged with homicide or other violent crimes while on pretrial detention for a Governor’s crime summit.

The principle question always came down to decision-making. When did they start crime? What age? Why did they get involved? What messages did they receive that encouraged criminal involvement? There were no clear answers beyond the fact that they didn’t expect to live beyond the age of 25 and their belief that violence was both necessary and good. If the justice system is not as aggressive or robust as it was, it provides permission.

Many mentioned the influence of peers, music, and movies. Being scary-violent was in their best interest.

Offenders make daily decisions as to criminality.

There are hundreds of thousands of Central and South Americans at the border because of “messages” suggesting that America will now allow them to stay. On CBS Sunday Morning, the president of Guatemala blamed mass illegal migration on the wrong messages by the federal government.

Does Justice Reform Send The Wrong Message?

There’s nothing wrong with examining change within the justice system. In my mind, everything the system does is up for discussion and debate. Criminal justice reform can be a valid issue.

But there are advocates, prosecutors, reporters, and politicians suggesting an array of initiatives that send the wrong “messages” to offenders.

We are telling society that non-monetary bail is a right. Regardless of how obvious the offender’s guilt (i.e., a badly beaten woman tells cops that her husband beat her with a frying pan), in the minds of some advocates, that person deserves to be set free (without supervision) till his court date.

We are saying that we will not prosecute for shoplifting or other “minor” crimes. Felonies now become misdemeanors. Stores throughout the country are closing because of it. High-crime communities become food deserts.

We are saying that prison sentences are too long even though the Bureau of Justice Statistics states that the nonviolent serve less than two years and violent offenders serve less than three.

We are saying that cops should stop all proactivity including traffic stops. Traffic and pedestrian fatalities are now at record highs. Some in cities (where the violence is overwhelming) continue to call for defunding.

There have been endless demonstrations-riots costing well over three billion dollars (per insurance claims) with thousands of participants protesting police violence. Some have suggested that there is a war on cops.

Per Pew, 72% say officers in their department are now less willing to stop and question suspicious persons. Overall, more than eight in ten (86%) say police work is harder today as a result of high-profile, negative incidents.

While I agree that everything should be on the table, and I concur that there are initiatives in justice reform worth discussing, society is clearly sending messages to criminal offenders that we are backing off both enforcement and consequences.

It’s a green light for criminality. Cities are paying real consequences.

Per USA Today, violent crime surged after police across America retreated, USA Today. The topic of messaging and reform was addressed by PBS, PBS News Hour.

It’s an issue we can’t ignore.